IS insider gave up Baghdadi for $25m US bounty: report
US commandos zeroed in on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s final hideout with the help of an extraordinarily well-placed informant, an IS operative who facilitated the terrorist leader’s movements around Syria and even helped oversee construction work on his Syrian safe house, according to US and Middle East-based officials knowledgeable about the operation.
The mole’s detailed knowledge of Baghdadi’s whereabouts, as well as the room-by-room layout of his sanctuary, proved to be critical in the October 26 raid that ended with the death of the world’s most-wanted terrorist, reported The Washington Post citing the officials.
The informant was present during the assault on Baghdadi’s compound in the Syrian province of Idlib, and he was exfiltrated from the region two days later with his family. The man, whose nationality had not been revealed, is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million US bounty that had been placed on Baghdadi’s head, according to the officials. One official said he was a Sunni Arab who turned against the IS because one of his relatives had been killed by the group.
The IS defector had been cultivated as an asset by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the predominantly Kurdish militia that became the ground troops for the US-led campaign to destroy the terrorist group’s self-proclaimed caliphate in eastern Syria. SDF leaders then handed control of the agent to US intelligence operatives, who spent weeks vetting him until they were sure he was genuine, the officials said.
A months-long effort to exploit the intelligence breakthrough began in the summer, but only in the past month did the informant’s tips lead to an opportunity to act.
The Washington Post previously reported the contributions of a disaffected IS operative in exposing the location of Baghdadi’s hideout. SDF leader Gen. Mazloum Abdi told NBC News on Monday that one of his organization’s informants had helped lead the Americans to Baghdadi’s compound, and said personal items, including underwear, were taken from the compound for DNA testing to confirm Baghdadi’s presence in the building.
US special operations commandos struck the hideout overnight Saturday, swooping in on helicopters and chasing the IS founder into a tunnel where he detonated a suicide vest, according to the US account of the raid.
Baghdadi’s head was apparently intact after the explosion, and US operators were convinced of his identity even before a field DNA test was conducted for confirmation, the official said.
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